Bittersweet Beginnings & Ends
by homuyuki
Summary: With the world in pure chaos and destruction, an alliance has to fight against the odds of corruption and evil creatures that lurk the city. Bonds will be broken and put to the test, love is questioned, and death may be just around the corner.
1. A World Full of Ruin

It's been merely four years since things had been peaceful, everywhere you'd turn, there'd be nothing but chaos. This whole world had fallen apart, and trust was a rare thing now. Creatures now ruled majority of this so called earth, and humanity, well, their race was on the verge of extinction. And it didn't help at all that everyone had somehow turned on each other, the lack of trust just worsen their crisis. There were some groups, however, who coexist and aid one another. Those alliances were truly rare, and it was surprising just how easy they managed to make this seem. Though security to such alliances were tight to get through, it has been known that they've accepted newcomers.

The "H.F.N.B" alliance, was led by a woman in her early twenties. That woman, known as Higurashi Yuki, is the leader of this alliance. She had recruited girls who had nowhere else to go, and assigned them a position in which they would fulfill certain tasks and missions. Each position was different, and each girl had a different background. Very little is known about Yuki, but she is a kind and caring woman who has a strong sense for justice. The second oldest girl in the alliance, is Tomoe Mami, who is 15 at the current time. She had lost her parents long before the world fell to ruin, she specializes in long distance combat, her favorite weapon is the musket rifle. Mami, despite how sad the world is, appreciates everyone in the crew, and she's always the cheery bubbly one, she cares for everyone as family. Her only weakness is being isolated for far too long, she cannot bare being alone.

The next girl is Shizuki Hitomi, who is 14. Before the outbreak, Hitomi was the daughter of the most richest and refined people of Mitakihara. Though she held a high status in society, she was quite humble and loved going to a public school in which she would befriend lots of nice people. She specializes in close range fighting, she used to be a black belt in martial arts, so Hitomi is often using her fists to do the fighting. She does, however, carry knives, which are a "delight to use" as she states. Her lady-like behavior stayed with her, her pacing is graceful, she loves making tea with Mami, and her vocabulary is much more sophisticated than everyone else's. Regardless of how gentle and sophisticated she is, when facing a tense situation, Hitomi's vocabulary is limited to mixtures of swears and poor executions of comebacks.

Miki Sayaka, who is also 14, happened to have attended the same school as Hitomi, so they had befriended one another long before they joined the alliance. Sayaka came from a middle class family, and her life was a very happy one. Her specialty is close range fighting as well, unlike Hitomi, she prefers using swords. Her favorite sword is a hand me down katana that her father had given to her. Miki-san can be rather stubborn and immature at times, but she is capable of being serious when the time requires her to be. She likes sharpening her weapons during her free time, and she also likes hanging out with Kyoko, another crew member whom they reside with. The only weakness that stands out, is that Sayaka tends to jump head first into things without giving it proper thinking, hence how she was given the nickname, "idiot of justice" by Kyoko.

Sakura Kyoko, age 14, didn't have a so happy life like the two other girls. Her family was a very religious one, and at first, things were going great. As time progressed, her father had become deeply depressed because his own religion had gotten no positive feedback, and so he became an alcoholic and murdered everyone in the family, everyone except her. She didn't bother going to school and so she lived off of theft and had no permanent home. When she was asked if she wanted to join the alliance, Kyoko had turned it down instantly, but soon after a couple of days, she had given in, knowing that there'd be no way of surviving alone. It took her some time to warm up to the other girls, and very soon after she too had begun smiling and enjoying everyone else's company. She specializes in both long and close range combat, her preferred weapons are hand made spears she had designed herself. Kyoko tends to be sarcastic even when facing danger, you can catch her always eating some type of snack, and she loves teasing her friend, Sayaka. The red headed girl can be careless, hot headed, and a little too cocky for her own good.

Next up is Akemi Homura, age 14, who is a bit too much anti-social. She had lost both of her parents long before she could remember, and was raised in a catholic orphanage. She used to have a medical condition, her heart wasn't the strongest one out there, and so she had spent most of her life in a hospital ward. When she was 10, she received a heart transplant, and now all but a scar resides in between her chest to serve as a token of remembrance of her new heart. The lack of physical contact during her early years had caused her to form a strong habit of excluding herself from her friends, or comrades, as how she interprets it. Homura is a very quiet, calm, and collected person. Her stoic-like face earned her the nickname, "Ice Princess", by both Kyoko and Sayaka. She specializes in both long and close range combat, and her preferred weapons of choice are dual HK MP5Ks. Not only is she an excellent guns expert, but she also specializes in high technology, often she designs new equipment for the rest of the crew. When not working on new equipment or high tech gear, Homura is often out exploring places.

Last, but not least, is Nagisa Momoe, who is the youngest member yet, she's 12 years old. Yuki has ordered her not to be out in the battlefield unless told otherwise, so she stays in the headquarters, training or learning the basics of her future position. Nagisa looks up at Mami like a little sister would to an older sister, the two of them met while the outbreak had occurred, and stayed together since then. Even though she is younger than the rest, the girl can be serious when she has to be. Other than that, she's always jumping about and talking to everyone, and her pass time is eating cheese cake and drinking tea with Mami.

These six girls fight every day, and scatter the city for supplies, and their leader stays on the main room in which she coordinates the next counter attack against intruders. This is the everyday life that they face, so far everything has been a manageable task for them, but how long until things start to fall apart one by one?

* * *

**A/N: Yeah, this is just the intro in which I introduced the characters and such. I didn't do that good of a job as I hoped, but the next chapter will be much better, I hope!**


	2. You're My New Hope

Duties had been put aside for today, for it was a resting day for everyone in the alliance. Sure, they always work hard, but if they worked everyday, exhaustion would eventually get the best of them and crumble their chances at the stabled and sheltered life they were living. So, every Wednesday was considered their day off. Each girl would catch up on their hobbies or sleep most of the day. Heck, even the leader's strong reputation would faze off during the relaxing day. The girls loved this day, it was the one time they could just forget about the outside problems and do what they used to do when they were all living in a healthy and monster free environment. They could just be ordinary girls again, and it was both a nostalgic and exciting thing for them.

Homura, however, had something else in mind for her plans today. Finishing up her breakfast, she rose from her seat and placed the plastic plate in the trashcan. "Where are you heading so early?" Mami inquired curiously. "I want to explore for a bit, see what I can find," responded flatly Homura. Putting on her gas mask on and sliding her arms through her dark purple backpack, the dark haired girl took a few steps forward and the door before her slid open automatically. "Well, just be sure to not get into trouble." The blonde smiled, rising from her own seat and walking towards Homura, she placed a warm white box in between the ebony's hands.

"Here."

"What is this?"

Giggling, Mami gave the girl a playful shove. "It's a bento dummy, I sorta figured you wouldn't stay put in our base. So I thought 'Hey, just in case, I better prepare her something. Who knows what her plans are.' Good thing I did so, right?" Her lips curving into a faint smile, Homura bowed thankfully before Mami.

"Thank you so much, Mami-san. I appreciate it."

"Ehehe, you're welcome. And see you later then." She waved at her.

"Yeah, see you."

As soon as she stepped out of the base, the door behind her closed immediately. The girl proceeded ahead, she knew where she was headed, there was this abandoned mall that had caught her attention about a week ago. It wasn't necessarily close to the headquarters either, which is why she planned to leave at this time a day. "I hope it isn't a waste going there…" Homura muttered beneath her gas mask.

* * *

Her heartbeat was speeding up so fast that it felt that it would burst at any given second. A small pink haired girl was running for her dear life, true terror was written all over her face. Not too far away were about three to four zombies behind her, madly chasing after the terrified girl. Making endless turns here and there, the girl hoped to lose the rabid creatures. But soon, all those thoughtless and quick decisions would bring the pinkette to a halt.

"No…" she whispered in between sobs. "It can't end like this, I can't die like this..!" she whimpered.

Scanning her surroundings, she quickly buried herself under dozens of old and lose cables that were lying on the floor. Positioning herself into the fetal position, the girl carefully slid her small trembling hands up to her mouth, clasping them shut in order to mute or muffle her heavy breathing. She lied on the floor, waiting, waiting for those dead people to pass her by, finally to leave her alone. It was quiet, no sign of those eerie like sounds were being picked up by her ears. It's been ten minutes since then, but it seemed like ten hours to the girl. Even so, her breathing was still producing a fast and heavy pace.

"M-maybe it's safe already." she thought. The thick mist was making it impossible for the girl to tell. "I can do this, I just have to quietly get up, and make a run for it." she whispered. "But where to? I don't have anywhere safe to go. What do I do?" her small pep talk turned into a negative one. "I'm a useless person, I don't know anything about how to survive such chaos like this… I'm scared." At this point, a squeaky sob escaped her lips, followed by streaming tears. "I-I don't have anyone else in this world, it's just me now. Wha- how do I get through this..?" her quivering lips let out a couple of heavy sobs.

* * *

She was here, Homura made it. The abandoned south east mall was standing before her, it's battered condition gave off a "this place is haunted, turn back while you still can" type of vibe. Wasting no time, the tall ebony threw a rock at one of the place's windows. With careful approach, she climbed the window, landing with a soft thud.

"Let's see what you have to offer." she sassed.

The first front shacks had nothing to offer but dust collected rotten foods and beverages. Every step of hers swept the small speckles of dirt from their stationary positions. The dust particles danced around, and alongside the girl. Still filled with curiosity with the place, Homura kept pacing herself forward, this place just had so much space too offer. A dimmed, but somewhat partially shiny object caught the girl's attention, bringing her to a halt. "I knew it…" her eyes fixing on the item, she began examining it from top to bottom.

"Just what I needed, but does it work?" She lightly shook the small object, hoping for it to produce a sound. The small electronic pot made a faint beeping sound. "You need some fixing, but you're perfect." Homura smiled. Sliding her backpack down her slender arms, she placed it on the ground, unzipping it in order to carefully place the small pot inside. "Now," with her backpack safely holding onto her arms again, she continued walking. A couple of lose bolts and screws picked up here and there, Homura made her final stop to an arcades shack. Without thinking twice, she headed inwards, amazed at just how much circuitry there was in here, her hands were everywhere. There was just so much to take and use to build new things. Sighing, the girl bit her lip and finally stayed still. "You can't take everything in one go, Homura." She mentally slapped herself.

"I'll have to come back another time." She was about to leave until a distant shuffling was heard. Homura unclipped her two guns from her belt, removing the safety clip, her feet slowly proceeded towards the sound.

* * *

After crying for five minutes straight, the pinkette quietly rose to her feet. She took the cables off of her, and then dusted herself off. Staggering a bit, the girl blinked her eyes twice, "Uhh, why do I feel so light headed all of a sudden?" she questioned.

"No… now's not the time to be focusing on how I'm feeling, I need to get out of here." The girl had only walked six steps before she immediately leaned against the wall, breathing short breaths. Homura was just around the corner from where she was. "I'm not alone…" The dark haired girl placed each of her index fingers on each trigger of her guns, ready to pierce whatever it was behind the wall. She rushed to the other side of the wall and pushed the unidentified creature to the floor, ready to shoot it then and there, but she quickly pulled back as soon as her brain processed what it was.

"A girl..?" She squinted her eyes, unable to see clearly, due to the heavy mist surrounding them. When she confirmed that it was just another human, she put her weapons aside. Clicking her tongue, Homura knelt down before the girl, wasting no time into examining her. The pinkette was half conscious, unable to tell what was going on, she just let Homura do as she pleased.

"The air that you're breathing here is toxic." Homura spoke, "You're lucky that I found you in the early state of the toxicity, it's not causing permanent damage yet."

She pulled out a small health kit, and opened it to reveal a couple of band aids, alcohol, and anesthetics. She took the anesthetic with a blue like liquid out. "Forgive me if this hurts a bit, but it'll only hurt for a second or two." She placed the girl's arm on her lap, cleaned it with a dipped alcohol cotton, and injected the blue liquid into the girl. The pinkette groaned for a bit before quieting down again. Homura checked her backpack for another gas mask, there wasn't a spare though. Sighing deeply, the dark haired girl placed both of her arms behind each ear, undoing the strap that was holding her mask together. She gave the pinkette a glance before looking back at the mask she was holding.

"You'll need to wear this in order to not fall ill to the toxics again."

"But what about you?" The girl finally spoke, "W-won't you fall ill to it too?"

Without responding to her question, Homura pulled the girl close to her, "Stay still." was all she said, before placing the gas mask onto the girl, she tied it tight, but not too tight, just enough so that it wouldn't fall off of the girl's face.

"What exactly were you doing here all by yourself, do you have a death wish or something?" Homura queried.

"I-I was running away from zombies!" The pinkette quaked.

"Where are your friends or guardians?"

"They… they're dead. It's just…." a knot squeezed at her throat and cut her off, her tears, threatening to race down her cheeks again.

Homura ruffled her dark hair, "I see… so it's just you." she looked down at the ground before looking back at the pinkette. "W-what's your name..?"

"M-Ma-doka Ka-name" the pinkette sniffled.

The ebony placed her hands on the girl's shoulders, trying to give her the most reassuring look. "I know you're upset right now, Kaname-san, but we need to get out of here. So I need you to come with me, okay?"

Madoka nodded, "Okay." she wiped her tears away and took a deep breath, "Sorry for being such a crybaby…" she timidly whispered.

"It's alright. You don't need to apologize for that. Sometimes fear just gets the best out of us. Now c'mon, follow me."

Madoka hurriedly walked beside Homura, "May I ask what your name is?" the pinkette asked. "It's Homura, Akemi Homura."

"Akemi-san…" Madoka spoke.

"Yeah?"

The small girl glanced at the taller girl, "Where are we going?"

"To a safe place."

* * *

It's been two hours, two long hours of nothing but pure walking. "I think it'd be best for us to take a small break." Homura announced, sitting on the nearest log. Madoka simply nodded and sat next to her. The two remained silent for a moment, not knowing what to talk about. Twiddling her fingers, the pink haired girl glanced at the girl next to her.

"U-um, thank you for saving me." Madoka interrupted the silence.

"Don't mention it." the dark haired girl's response was somewhat raspy. She leaned back, lying on the logs behind her. Madoka kept her gaze on Homura, as if she was expecting her to say more. "What?" Homura muttered, now shooting the girl a cold glare.

"Eh n-nothing." Madoka looked away, "I just thought that you might've had something else to say, but guess not."her face had dropped once again.

Siting upwards again, Homura reached for her backpack and unzipped it. Ruffling through it, she took out the bento that Mami had given her earlier. "You must be hungry, so here, eat up. "Oh, thank you." Madoka removed the gas mask and placed it in between her and the ebony. Each were eating a rice ball and a sandwich. The food was quite delicious, and the pinkette savored every last bit of it. "Wow! You sure know how to make delicious food!" she said in between bites.

"I didn't make these." Homura confessed, "It was someone else that did."

Curious as to who that might be, Madoka proceeded into asking her next question, "And who might that be?"

"A girl who's in the same alliance as I am." she replied.

"Ah, I see! She sure knows how to cook then!" she flashed Homura a warm smile.

This took her off guard, causing her to look away. One minute the pinkette was all sad and now she was all smiley like, it confused Homura a bit. Trying to focus on something else, she rose from her seat, and stared down at the gas mask. "When you're finished with your meal, put the gas mask back on." she spoke, while pointing at it.

"Why don't you put it on now?" Madoka replied, "I've worn it for a long time already, I think it's your t-"

"No." Homura cut Madoka off before she could finish. The pink haired girl fell silent. "We have a strict policy when it comes to this. You mustn't take off your gas mask for long periods of time. If you break these rules, you have to face the consequences head on." she finally turned to look at Madoka, her face, stoic as ever.

"I understand, Akemi-san. And if that's the case, then you need to wear it. I'll be fine without it," she smiled back at her, trying to be reassuring. "I don't want you to get in trouble because of me."

Before Homura could argue, a sharp pang in her head caused her to fall to her knees. "Akemi-san!" Madoka rushed to her side, "Are you okay?"

The dark haired girl couldn't respond though, and the pain inflicted itself even more. "Arggh..!" her breathing was heavy, and she was trembling like crazy. Madoka didn't know what to do, she was freaking out, "T-the… medical kit…. grab it, and ge-get the blue an-" she was cut off by another excruciating pang again. The pinkette ruffled through the bag, searching for the kit.

"Don't worry, you'll be okay, Akemi-san." She pulled out the kit and turned towards the girl behind her. Widening her eyes, her face dropped it's normal color and replaced it with a pale one. "N-no…" she piped. Homura wasn't moving, nor was she breathing. "No..! A-Akemi-san!" Madoka crawled over to the limp girl, carefully placing her on her lap. "D-don't do this to me, Homura!" she whimpered. "You can't die, you can't-" taking the anesthetic in between her trembling hands, and examining it before looking down at the girl, she bit at her lower lip for a moment in order to stop her sobbing. "You're my new hope... I won't let you go so easily. Not without a fight..!"

* * *

**A/N: Phhew, I finally finished this long chapter. I can't feel my back and it is 5:58 am /)o v o(\ I need to go to sleep. Madoka is like waterworks here. But there's no need to fear, character development will happen either in the fourth chapter or so haha. Anyways, leave me a review and let me know what you think. Enjoy your day!**


	3. A Relief

Madoka injected the vaccine into the unconscious girl's bloodstream. She kept muttering to herself repeatedly, "She's going to be okay… she's going to be okay… she's going to be okay." Homura's body was still unresponsive, sadly, she just lied motionless on Madoka's lap. Her face was a bit paler than usual, and her skin felt a little too cold.

"C'mon… open your eyes, Homura-chan." One, two, three. She shook her lightly, and repeated the same process again. One, two, three shakes. Nothing. The raven didn't move, she didn't even twitch in the slightest. A small sniffle escaped Madoka's lips, she wasn't even trying to wake Homura up anymore. Her arms simply wrapped gently around Homura's waist. She rested her forehead on Homura's cold one.

"Why won't you open your eyes..?" she whimpered. Tears were slowly running down her cheeks, causing a couple of drops to sprinkle onto Homura's pale and still face. At this point, Madoka was already sobbing heavily, and she wasn't going to quiet down any time sooner. She just embraced Homura tighter and tighter, burying her face in the raven's hair. It was strange though, how she was showing so much emotion for someone she had barely just met. They had only met for a couple of hours, yet here she was, pouring her poor soul onto the unconscious girl. This was one of Madoka's flaws, she grows attached too quickly to people. And Homura, whom she only just met recently, was already gone and it hurt. This really hurt Madoka so much, that knot on her throat was too much to handle, she simply kept clinging to the raven, tears flowing nonstop.

* * *

It had been an hour now, and all the crying Madoka had done, had worn her out completely and led her to fall asleep right then and there. It was quiet there, yes, but these two were out in the open, unguarded. Anything could attack them there, but since Madoka had fallen asleep, there was no one there to warn her of potential dangers. She wasn't even wearing the gas mask Homura had put on her.

Her napping was cut short due to something poking at her forehead. At first she simply scrunched her eyebrows and turned her face the other way. Again, the figure poked at Madoka's forehead. The sleeping girl aimlessly swatted at the hand that was bothering her. Sighing, the figure hovered over the girl, placed a firm grip on the pinkette's shoulders, and shook her awake. Startled by the rude awakening, Madoka jolted forwards, her head, charging at full speed, clashed with something.

"Ouch! Ow… my forehead." she whimpered, rubbing at the aching spot on her forehead.

"Remind me not to ever do that again…" the ebony spoke, clutching at her nose. Apparently when Madoka had jolted upwards and clashed against something hard, it was Homura's nose that she had hit. Luckily she didn't manage to break it with that headbutt of hers. The short girl was sitting there, wide eyes and mouth opened, she looked like she had seen a ghost. "Homura…chan.." was all that she managed to say.

"What is it?" Homura was still rubbing at her nose, trying to ease the pain away. The smaller girl, without another word, threw her arms around the taller girl, hugging her tighter than ever. Afraid that she might be dreaming, Madoka ran her hands up and down the raven's back. "H-hey, what are you do-" Homura tensed up, her cheeks feeling slightly heated due to the back rubbing she was experiencing. Madoka pressed her forehead onto Homura's, and kept her gaze on the girl's violet eyes. "You're not cold anymore."

"Huh?"

Finally pulling away from her, Madoka gave off a sigh of relief. Then she fixed her eyes on Homura again. "You collapsed earlier, don't you remember?" She began, "I panicked and searched the kit like crazy. I was so scared, I thought you died…" Narrowing her eyes, Homura simply shook her head. "The toxins," she spoke, "the toxins in this air are much stronger than what I had anticipated." Gathering her belongings, Homura slipped the backpack back on and turned towards the pinkette. "I would've been dead if it weren't for your quick thinking, so thank you." Even though Homura was thanking Madoka, it didn't really seem like she had meant it, perhaps because she didn't smile or seem happy. Her face was still stoic like, and so it was hard to tell whether she meant it or not. Either way, Madoka was just happy to have been able to save the ebony's life.

"You don't need to thank me, I'm just glad you're okay now Hom- ah um…" she clasped at her mouth, afraid she was being too friendly, considering Homura hadn't given her permission to address her by her first name. Timidly twiddling with her fingers, Madoka shakily began, "I-is it alright if I call you by your first name?" Homura simply shrugged at the smaller girl's question. "Do what you want." she replied, "I don't really care what you address me as." Leaning closer towards Madoka, the raven pointed at the gas mask hanging from Madoka's neck, "Put it on now, I don't want you falling ill to these toxins." Without being told twice, the smaller girl did as she was told. Once she had adjusted her mask properly, the pinkette took a hold of Homura's hand and looked at her. "Where are we going?" she asked. Homura didn't respond due to the focus she was giving to their hands holding onto one another. Looking back at the girl, the raven's expression gave off an annoyed confused one. "Why are you holding onto my hand, Kaname-san?" Madoka simply smiled and explained happily, "So that I don't get separated from you." Sighing, Homura simply lightly tighten her grip on the small hand that was clinging to hers. "You sure are weird." she muttered, walking with her side by side.

* * *

"So, Homura-chan, do you know why everything is the way it is today?" Madoka asked, curious as to just what the heck happened that made everything turn to shit. "Well…" the raven began, "It's a long story, but basically some stupid idiot scientists thought it would be a great idea to revive the dead and create an invincible militaristic army, and save lives that way." The pinkette, listening, nodded away to reassure Homura that she was listening to her. "And now here we are," the ebony simply sighed, "An irreversible mistake is what they created."

* * *

Both girls were getting closer and closer to the headquarters in which Homura and the rest of the crew reside in. Their place was hidden behind a semi large forest. No one would really go past the forest considering it was believed to be a zombie mob zone. "Are we almost there?" Madoka asked, trying to get a conversation to begin. Homura nodded, "Yes. We'll be there in a few minutes." Glancing around the area, Madoka awed at the small sights she saw. There wasn't much, but there was a small lake and some deer in the area. "Hehee, this place is pretty." she gleed. "Does Homura-chan spend time out here to relax when she has time?" "I'm not really the type of person to enjoy sitting around for too long," the ebony replied, "I like exploring places that have technical stuff in it."

Happy at the progress she made to get Homura to talk, Madoka simply smiled brightly, "I see! So you must be really great with machinery and stuff then, right?" Taken aback by the compliment, Homura couldn't help but to smile faintly and blush, "I'm not really that great…" she responded shyly. Seeing a bashful Homura made the pinkette smile even wider, she was getting passed the ebony's cold layers.

Before she could say anything else though, Homura halted and glanced at her, "We're here, Kaname-san." she spoke. Glancing around various times, Madoka finally looked back at Homura and tilted her head, "Um… I don't see your place anywhere…" Finally releasing the pinkette's hand, the stoic girl felt through some bushes before a clicking sound was heard, and a robotic voice spoke through a speaker. "Please place your hand print in order to verify entrance to the headquarters." Doing as she was told, Homura pressed her hand against the scanner and opened the gateway entrance.

They both stepped in and before Madoka could proceed any further, Homura turned towards her. "Listen Kaname-san, I'm going to need you to stay as close to me as possible. Whatever happens, just let me do the talking. And don't mention the incident that happened to me earlier." Wanting to ask why, Madoka opened her mouth to ask, but was cut off by Homura, "Don't ask why you shouldn't, just please, don't mention anything." Understanding, the pinkette nodded, "Okay, I'll let you do all the talking Homura-chan. And I won't mention it either."

This was it, Madoka was in. She was with Homura, so her chances of being killed off accidentally would reduce to zero. All she needed was approval and she'd be set to go. But that wasn't what she had in mind, she was thinking about why Homura didn't want her to mention anything about her near death experience.

_"Maybe it's because of that strict policy she mentioned to me earlier…"_ she thought. Or maybe, just maybe, if someone was that close to intoxication, they'd be a threat to everyone else's safety. Whatever it was, Madoka was curious as to why Homura wanted nothing of that to be mentioned. Just what exactly were the consequences for that?

* * *

**A/N: Welp, here's this other chapter and it is crap I think. The next one will be better though, I hope! Leave a review if you would, those are always nice to read because I like to hear what people think haha;; sooo yeah, thanks for reading! Have a good day/night/afternoon ^_^**


	4. Introduce Yourself

As both girls proceeded further into the building, the metallic doors behind them closed shut. Madoka glanced around her, the lights that lit the white corridors shun brightly, causing her to squint her eyes as a result of staring too much at them.

Still walking hand in hand, Homura led the way, while the pink haired girl awed at her new surroundings. A couple turns here and there, the two had finally made it to the lounge room, where usually all girls hanged out when it was a resting day.

Aside from a red head, no one was present for the moment.

"Huh, what's this?" the red headed girl spoke, noticing the new face. "Who's the stray pup, Hom?" she asked as she approached them.

"I found her while I was out exploring for some things," Homura spoke, "And her name is Kaname Madoka by the way."

Madoka simply nodded, trying her best to smile without revealing that she felt a bit intimidated by the red head.

"I see," the red headed girl grinned, her fangs showing, "I'm Sakura Kyoko, nice to meet ya Madoka!"

She extended her hand, and the pink haired girl extended hers in return to shake it, "Nice to meet you too, Sakura-san." she replied timidly.

Kyoko couldn't help but to laugh, "Ah kid, you're just like a newborn! Relax, there's no need to feel shy around here. After all, this'll be your new home from now on."

Upon hearing that last sentence, Madoka's eyes widened with excitement, "Y-you mean I can stay here as long as I want..?" she asked.

"Sure ya can!" Kyoko, chirped, "All we need to do is let Yuki know that we have acquired a new family member."

"Yuki?" Madoka repeated curiously.

"Higurashi Yuki-san is our leader," Homura stated.

Kyoko pulled Homura into a bear hug before nudging her head, "Lighten up Ice Princess, stop being so formal. Try to sound more welcoming to the newbie here, your coldness is going to scare her away."

Annoyed, Homura pushed Kyoko away from her, fixing her hair shortly afterwards. "If anything, it's your wild behavior that's going to scare her off." she said. "Now, where exactly is Yuki-san? I need to inform her of the new arrival."

Kyoko motioned for the two girls to sit on the couch, "You two go ahead and wait here, I'll go fetch her." Before Homura could reply, Kyoko had already sprinted down the corridor halls, her steps fading away into the distance.

"She seems nice," Madoka spoke, smiling at Homura.

Scoffing at the pink haired girl's comment, Homura rested her head against the couch's arm rest, "Wait till you actually get to know her." she said.

Madoka ended up scooting a bit closer to Homura before lightly tapping on her shoulder, "Hm? What is it?" Homura muttered.

"I just wanted to say 'thank you' again," Madoka smiled, "Thank you for saving me today, Homura-chan."

Ruffling through her hair a bit, Homura bit her lower lip before speaking, "You don't need to keep thanking me, you know…" she sighed, "but you're welcome, again."

/./

After a while, footsteps started echoing through the corridor, growing closer and closer towards their direction.

"Here she comes," Homura stated, "Kaname-san, it's time to present you."

With that said, both girls stood up and walked a few steps until they were facing the corridor. The leader had arrived, here she was, face to face with the new girl.

"I hear you were rescued by Homura here," she smiled.

Nodding, Madoka smiled back at her, "Yes, it's true, ma'am."

Cupping Madoka's face with her slender hands, Yuki examined the girl's face, as if she were searching for something in particular. The sudden action had caused Madoka to let out a faint squeak.

"S-she's virus free.." Homura reported, causing Yuki's attention to shift to hers.

"I see, that's good then." she smiled, releasing Madoka. "Well then, welcome aboard, young lady!" the leader chimed, "Tomorrow morning I'll be assigning you your new position. You'll be roommates with Homura, considering everyone except her already have one. So then," she looked at the raven, "why don't you start giving her the grand tour, Homura?"

Nodding obediently, Homura turned to face Madoka, "Alright then, Kaname-san."

"Yes?" Madoka blinked rapidly.

The raven haired girl motioned for her to follow her, "I'll be showing you around now."

/./

Both girls were now standing in front of a door, the nameplate had Homura's name on it. "This concludes our tour," Homura merely states. She opens the door to reveal the interior of the room. Only half of the room was being occupied, while the other half remained empty. "The empty side of the room, that's your half."

Madoka walked towards her half, she was amazed to see that, even though said side wasn't being used, everything was still neat and clean. The bed was made, dust wasn't invading everywhere,no cobwebs, and the closet wasn't cluttered with anything. "Do you clean this side of the room often?" Madoka asks, while sitting on the soft bed.

"Yuki-san asked of me to always keep that side of the room looking presentable, just in case if someone were to ever join and move in here with me." Homura quietly answered Madoka's question, while sliding her backpack off and unzipping it.

"Your hard work paid off then, Homura-chan," Madoka smiled warmly.

"It was nothing really, it's just cleaning." Homura replies, focusing her gaze on the different objects she was pulling out of her bag.

"Homura-chan?" Madoka leans forward in order to place her elbows over her knees, cupping her own cheeks afterwards, waiting for the other girl to turn her direction.

Homura's lavender eyes glance over her shoulder, focusing on the other girl.

"Let's get along!" Madoka beams, her features carved with a warm smile.

"Mhm."

/./

"Everyone, report to the lounge at once. I need to introduce the new recruit to you all. I repeat: everyone, report to the lounge at once." Yuki's voice echoed through each corridor and room in the headquarters.

"Ah… that's right, I haven't met everyone yet." Madoka sits up from her bed, shuffling her body towards Homura's direction. "How many people are there here exactly, Homura-chan?" she asks.

"Not many, just seven people. Well, you already met both Sakura-san and Yuki-san. So really, you just have to meet five more people." Homura replies, her attention still engrossed over whatever it was she was doing.

"You're right..." Madoka smiled before lowering her head a bit.

Two minutes of silence passed before Homura decided to speak again. "They're waiting for you, you do realize that, right..?"

No response.

Sighing, Homura places down the pieces of metal she was holding in her hands, she shifted her body towards Madoka, facing her fully now.

"They're waiting for you, Kaname-san." she repeats, her tone a bit louder, due to her having to repeat herself again.

Nothing.

The raven haired girl tapped her fingers, slightly annoyed at the silent treatment she was receiving from the other girl.

"Hey. Are you listening?" she asked, her eyes narrowing down on Madoka now.

Once again, no response.

Sighing in exasperation, Homura rubbed at the nape of her neck. "Fine, do as you like. Whether you go to them or not, it's not my proble-"

"Do you think they'll like me?" Madoka's sudden interruption caused Homura to widen her eyes a bit, before her stoic like features resurfaced again.

"What?"

Madoka balled up her fists against her knees, wrinkling the fabric on her jeans, she kept her gaze down. "Do you think they'll like me..?" she whispered, loudly enough for the other to hear her.

Homura crossed her arms, looking away from the pink haired girl. "That's…. that's up to you, is it not?"

"Eh?" Madoka looked up, her voice a bit louder but still quiet, "What do you mean?"

Homura ran a hand through her hair before speaking again, "What I mean is, if you want them to like you, then just try your best and be yourself or whatever." she gazed at her before looking away again. "Besides, they're all really friendly if you ask me, and you seem just as cheery go lucky as they are, so you should be fine."

Madoka blushed slightly at Homura's blunt description of her before giggling softly. "You're right. Thank you for the words of encouragement, Homura-chan."

Checking the clock on the wall, the raven haired girl glanced back at Madoka, "You should hurry then. They're waiting for you."

"Ah, you're right!" Madoka quickly rose from her bed. "Let's go then!"

"I'm not going."

"Eh?" fixing her gaze on the raven, Madoka cocked her head sideways, "Why not?"

Lavender eyes stared back into pink ones. "Because I already met you. The meeting is for those who haven't met you yet."

Shaking her head slightly, Madoka took a firm grasp on Homura's wrist and pulled lightly. "Homura-chan, did you not hear Yuki-san correctly? She said, 'Everyone, report to the lounge at once.' Everyone, meaning you too."

Homura furrowed her brows before looking away, a bit embarrassed at the misunderstood message she had half heartily paid attention to.

Taking that as a sign of acceptance, Madoka simply smiled, and dragged Homura away with her down the corridors.

/./

"Alright everyone." Yuki boomed, with her confident voice echoing a bit. "I have called you all here because there is someone I need to present to you."

Mutters from the of the girls could be heard. A red head seemed unfazed by it, she simply continued biting into her pocky stick.

"Hey Kyoko." A blue haired girl whispered, catching the attention of the red head.

"Hm?"

"Who do you think it might be?" Sayaka continued on, "Do you think it might be an old friend of Yuki-san? Oh! Or maybe, a highly trained assassin, ready to show us how to improve our skills?" she awed at the built up image she had made.

Kyoko snickered, before nudging Sayaka lightly, "Idiot, I've already met her. I'll burst your bubbles right now and tell you that no, she is neither of those. She's a rookie, a scared pup at that."

"Ehh, really?" a crease appeared on Sayaka's features. "I-I see…. so it's none of that." She sighed, disappointment still visible on her face.

A blonde looked around, searching for the new arrival, but it was nowhere to be found.

"Yuki-san," she spoke.

"Yes, what is it Mami?"

"The new arrival… where are they?"

Everyone but Kyoko and Yuki looked around aimlessly, wondering where exactly this person was.

Before anyone could say anything else, footsteps caught their attention and they all shifted their gazes towards the sound of it.

There she was, a pink haired girl they have never seen before, she was standing hand in hand with a stoic Homura.

Yuki walked towards the girl and stood next to her, pointing at her. "Everyone, this is the new recruit. She was brought in by Homura."

"Ah, so you went girl hunting earlier, Homura?" Mami smiled warmly at the lavender eyed girl.

Homura embarrassedly looked down, her hand pulling away from Madoka's. "N-no. I just happened to bump into her." she spoke.

"Well then," Yuki smiled, "introduce yourself." she looked at Madoka, and the girl nodded back.

She stepped forward, timidly looked at the faces staring back at her, and she bowed before them. "M-my name is Kaname Madoka. I uh, I'm 14 years old, and I was found by Homura-chan. She saved me and I'm grateful to her for that. L-let's get along..!" she squeaked.

"Nice to meet you Kaname-san. My name is Tomoe Mami. I'm the head cook of this household." Mami smiled warmly at her.

"I'm Momoe Nagisa, but everyone calls me Bebe! Oh also, do you like cheese, Madoka-san?" Nagisa asked excitedly, quickly earning a nod from the pink haired girl in response. "That's cool! We already have something in common!" Nagisa beamed.

"Nice to meet you too, and yeah, let's get along. I'm Miki Sayaka by the way!" Sayaka smiled at her.

Kyoko grinned at Madoka, "Yo, we already met earlier, but nice to meet ya again."

Hitomi bowed right back at Madoka and smiled at the girl. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Kaname-san. My name is Shizuki Hitomi."

"And I'm Higurashi Yuki, the leader of this place, but you already knew that." she laughs, "You can address me as Yuki or Higurashi-san if you wish. But I prefer when you all address me by my first name, it gives us a more friendly relationship, does it not?"

Nodding quickly, Madoka smiled at the kind leader. "You're right. And same goes for me, you can all call me by my first name as well!"

There was silence shortly after that and everyone but Madoka shifted their gaze in synchronization towards Homura, who had been looking bored the whole time. She stared back at the girls, and tilted her head in confusion.

"What is it..?"

"Oi, Ice Princess. It's your turn to introduce yerself." Kyoko smirked.

"But I already introduced myself to her."

Yuki leaned over to ruffle Homura's hair a bit, before smiling at the girl, "Doesn't hurt introducing yourself again, does it?"

Madoka turned towards Homura now, smiling at the girl. She extended her hand towards her, "I'm Kaname Madoka. Nice to meet you!"

Homura stared at Madoka's extended hand for a bit, before reluctantly shaking it in return. "Akemi Homura…"

"Let's get along Homura-chan!"

"…"

/./

With the meeting over, all girls were in the lounge area, huddled over Madoka, asking her all sorts of questions. Well, all except one, Homura wasn't there.

"So Madoka, what kind of life did you use to live before everything went to chaos?" Sayaka asked.

"Ah, well… my mom, she used to be a successful businesswoman and my dad was a stay at home dad, he cooked and kept the house clean. Both him and my little brother Tatsuya stayed at home, he was 3 years old, so he still didn't go to preschool. And me, well, I was just an ordinary school girl."

"That sounds like it must've been a good life." Mami smiled, while brushing Nagisa's hair.

"It was. There was nothing to complain about really. Well actually, no, there was." she corrected herself, smiling a bit sadly this time.

"And what might've that been, if we may ask." Hitomi questioned, her tone polite as always.

"I really didn't have any friends at all." Madoka replied, her tone a bit quieter now.

"Hm? Why's that?" Kyoko raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised at the pinkette's statement.

"I don't know, really. Maybe I was too nice or something?" Madoka blinked rapidly, "That's why I was a bit nervous today, I thought that maybe, you might not like me. It already seems like Homura-chan doesn't like me, so…"

Sudden laughter caused Madoka to widen her eyes a bit, Kyoko was laughing, but was she laughing at her?

"Don't worry bout Ice Princess there," Kyoko leaned forward, offering the girl a piece of pocky. Madoka gladly took it and began munching on it. "It's not that she hates you or anything, she's simply apathetic towards everyone she meets. Don't take it personally."

"Yeah," Sayaka smiled, trying to reassure Madoka a little more. "Why do you think we call her Ice Princess? It's because she's always so serious and stuff."

"Now you two, please, don't tease Akemi-san." Hitomi scolded lightly.

"You see, Madoka," Mami began, "Homura's just… a bit antisocial due to her past. Even though she seems cold at first, she's a really caring, smart, talented, and kind girl. She just has to warm up to you."

Both Kyoko and Sayaka couldn't help but to burst out laughing.

"Mami-san," Kyoko said in between giggles, "Are ya sure we're-" she kept laughing, clutching at her abdomen.

"Are you sure we're talking about the same Homura?" Sayaka finished Kyoko's sentence, trying to sustain her snickering.

Madoka simply glanced back to the corridor that was behind the couch they were all sitting at.

"Homura-chan's…. past.." she murmured to herself.

/./

After hearing about everyone's fair share of their own background stories, it was already late, so everyone decided to head back to their rooms. Madoka yawned and trudged to her new room. A lot had happened today, and it wore Madoka out. But even though a lot of the events that took place were overwhelming, the girl smiled brightly. She was able to meet new people, and they were all nice to her, so there was no reason for her to feel unsure with the new lifestyle she would be about to adapt to.

Before she could walk into the room, she decided it was best to knock, just in case it might've been considered rude of her to simply barge in, regardless of whether it was her room now too. She softly knocks three times on the door.

"Homura-chan, may I come in?" she asks.

"It's your room too, is it not?" was the faint reply she received from the other side of the door.

She twisted the door's handle and opened the door, closing it behind her lightly. She was greeted with the backside of Homura, she was still working on whatever it was that had her so occupied earlier. Madoka sat on her bed and kicked off her shoes, before sighing with relaxation.

"Kaname-san." Homura mummbled.

"Yes, Homura-chan?" the pink haired girl fixed her gaze on the back of the other girl.

"I took some time earlier while you were with the rest of the members to put in some clothing in your closet. You can take a shower right now if you wish."

Upon hearing about the nice gesture Homura did, Madoka couldn't help but to smile brightly at her. She lunged herself at the raven haired girl and hugged her lightly. "Wow! Thank you Homura-chan! You didn't have to, but I appreciate your nice gestures a lot!"

Homura stiffened at the sudden embrace, letting out a faint yelp.

"Oh sorry, did I scare you? I'm sorry." The smaller girl let her hands drop to her sides and she backed away a step.

"It's alright. Just, don't do it ever again. I don't like being hugged…" Homura replied.

"Ah, is that so? I'll keep that in mind then, and again, sorry." Madoka bowed apologetically repeatedly.

Homura, her back still turned towards Madoka, simply waved her hand to her, "Don't worry about it. It's fine."

"Alright… well, I think I'm gonna go take a shower then. I'll see you in a few minutes, Homura-chan."

Homura gave the girl another wave of the hand as a response, and with that said, Madoka picked up some fresh clean clothing and left for the showers.

/./

"Gee, that sure was quite a refreshing bath I just took." Madoka sang, as she continued walking down the hallways, heading to her room. "Come to think of it, when was the last time I took a bath..?"

It had seemed like such a long time ago to the girl, she literally had no idea how long she's been on her own, trying to survive everyday by herself. How long ago was it that she had lost her family? How long ago has she been completely alone? Those same thoughts were circling around, repeating themselves again and again. Tears were now forming on the girl's eyes, she quickly shook her head, trying to repress such melancholic memories. "No," she whispered to herself, blinking rapidly in order to rid herself of the tears, "I shouldn't cry… not now, not now." But her tears, they kept falling and falling.

"…. Mom, dad, Tatsuya….." she fell to her knees, her eyes swollen with the running tears that kept appearing one after another nonstop.

/./

After crying for more than ten minutes, Madoka had reached her room, she noticed on the nameplate that her name was written on it as well. She couldn't help but to smile. "Homura-chan is really thoughtful," she thought.

She knocked on the door again, same three soft knocking patterns as earlier. "Homura-chan, may I come in?"

She received the same, "It's your room too, isn't it?" response from Homura again. Madoka opened the door and stepped inside, closing the door behind her quietly. Without another word, the pink haired girl hopped onto her bed and pulled the covers onto herself, shifting herself to a comfortable position afterwards.

After yawning and rubbing her eyes lightly, Madoka glanced over at Homura, who was still sitting on her desk, still working on something.

"You're not going to sleep, Homura-chan?" Madoka asked, while rubbing at her eyelids again.

"No, I need to finish something by tomorrow."

"Why's that?"

Homura glanced back at Madoka for a bit, before answering cautiously. "Why do you wish to know?"

Madoka sat up on her bed as soon as Homura made eye contact with her, "I don't know… maybe because I just want to get to know you better?"

The dark haired girl squinted her eyes at Madoka before turning her back on her again, "It's a gift for someone," she finally said, her voice barely a whisper.

"A gift? For who?" Madoka's eyes beamed, and for a second there, it almost seemed as if her sleepiness had gone away.

"Eh…" Homura bit her lip and slouched her shoulders before continuing, "It's for Tomoe-san…"

Madoka jumped off her bed and pulled up a chair next to Homura. "That's nice! Does she know you're giving her a present tomorrow?"

"No, she doesn't. It's a surprise actually." Homura muttered.

Madoka couldn't help but to smile at the taller girl. The way she was acting was such a refreshment for the pink haired girl, "You like giving people gifts, Homura-chan?"

Homura fidgeted for a second before shaking her head, "No, I don't. I just thought that maybe… um.." she looked away from the girl, unable to finish her sentence.

"Hm?" Madoka leaned a bit forward, in order to search for those lavender eyes that were hiding from her sight. "You thought what, Homura-chan?"

"I just thought that she might like the gift, considering I overheard her say she wanted one of these…" she pointed at the object she had been working on half of the day.

"Wow," Madoka's brows rose in surprise and awe, "did you make this, Homura-chan? Is this what you were working on?"

"Yes."

Madoka placed a hand on Homura's shoulder and gazed at her. "Homura-chan, I'm sure she'll love it."

Upon hearing Madoka's words of encouragement, Homura's eyes dilated, and her features soften for a bit, before she pulled her gaze away from her. "Thanks, I hope she does. And you should go to sleep already, you have a full day ahead tomorrow."

"I will, I will." Madoka smiled, while rising from her seat. "But you should get some rest too, Homura-chan."

Once again, Homura replied with a wave of a hand before focusing back on her task.

"Goodnight, Homura-chan."

**A/N: Sorry for the late update, I've just been really lazy and I needed inspiration to continue this story. I watched all the resident evil movies and played tomb raider and the last of us to get more of a sense of survivalists and whatnot. Anyways, I'll try to upload the next chapters withing next week or a few days or so! Till then, see ya!**


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